Acts xiii. 26. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
IN tracing the steps of the Apostle Paul, I see exactly what every minister of Christ should be : he should live but for one end, To save the souls of men : and, for the attainment of that end, he should account no labour too great, no sufferings too intense. He should live for it altogether, and, if need be, die for it also. Methinks I here see a minister addressing his stated congregation. He comes to them as an ambassador from God ; bringing salvation, as it were, along with him, and declaring to every one of them, " To you, and to you, is the word of this salvation sent!"
Sustaining, through grace, this blessed office, I will now, in God's name,
I. Unfold to you the true character of the Gospel which we preach —
It is nothing more nor less than this, " The word of salvation." This admirably describes the Gospel ; of which it may be truly said,
1. It reveals salvation clearly —
[No other book under heaven can tell us how a sinner
maybe saved ■ — But this reveals to us the plan which
God the Father devised, and God the Son executed, and God the Spirit applies to the souls of men. It opens to us all the wonders of redemption, through the incarnation and death of God's only dear Son. It sets him forth, as making an atone- ment for the sins of men, and as working out a righteousness wherein they may stand before God, and as imparting out of his own inexhaustible fulness whatsoever is necessary for every individual of mankind. All this it states with a clearness and precision which no man can mistake, unless Satan, the god of this word, has blinded his eyes.]
2. It offers salvation freely —